Terms and Conditions

Travel on Three-Cabin Aircraft

When requesting an eUpgrade to Business Class, you will always be offered the option to sit in the best available seat. If you originally request an eUpgrade to Business Class, but there are no Business Class seats available at flight departure, and seats in Premium Economy are available, you will automatically be given a seat in Premium Economy. The eUpgrade requirements will be adjusted accordingly.

eUpgrade eligibility

eUpgrade requests are valid on eligible Air Canada, Air Canada Express, and Air Canada Rouge flights which offer a Business Class, Premium Economy or Premium Rouge cabin, when a ticket is issued in an eligible, fare option and booking class.

eUpgrade Credits are calculated based on the requested eUpgrade cabin (Business Class, Premium Economy or Premium Rouge) on one-way travel from origin to destination on a single reservation, including connections. Itineraries booked on different reservations will require the separate upgrade requests be made and requirements will be calculated separately.

Upgrades are subject to space availability for the number of upgrades permitted per flight.

eUpgrade Credits are removed from the member's account as soon as the upgrade is requested. However, if the passenger is not upgraded, the credits are returned to the member's account. For itineraries with connections where only certain flights received confirmed upgrades, members may be entitled to a refund. In those cases, a portion of the credits related to the non-upgraded segments will be returned to the member's account.

Upgrades may not be used in conjunction with reward travel tickets, promotional pass travel, or travel industry discount fares, unless otherwise indicated.

eUpgrade Credits are non-transferable.

Irregular Operations

If courtesy upgrades are given at the time of departure due to irregular operations, customers with a previously requested eUpgrade will not be eligible for eUpgrade Credit or Add-on refunds.

eUpgrade Credit validity period

All credits are valid through the Altitude benefit year, unless otherwise specified on your eUpgrade account. The 2017 benefit year runs to February 28th, 2018. Furthermore, all credits earned on or after November 1st, 2017 will be valid until February 28th, 2019.

eUpgrade Add-ons

If an eUpgrade Add-on applies to your booking, you will be asked to provide your credit card information. eUpgrade Add-ons are non-refundable, are charged in Canadian Dollars (CAD), and include all applicable taxes. A foreign merchant transaction fee may be charged by your credit card issuing bank at time of billing. Note that your credit card will only be charged if you are upgraded and a receipt will be issued by email.

Fare Rules

Although you will be seated in either Premium Economy or Business Class when your upgrade is confirmed, your booking will remain subject to the fare rules and restrictions of the booking class and fare option you originally purchased. These rules include, but are not limited to, mileage accumulation, change and cancellation fees, access to airport lounges and baggage allowance.

Connecting Itineraries

A connection between 2 flights wholly within Canada and the United States may last up to 10 hours, even when travelling on an international itinerary.

For travel including international markets (including Sun destinations), the maximum connection time will be 24 hours. If the next available connection is beyond these timeframes, we cannot "force" a connection; the upgrade request will be considered two separate journeys.

Account Discrepancies

Please note that there is a minimum processing delay of four days. If a discrepancy occurs with your eUpgrade account, please allow at least 96 hours from your flight departure time before contacting Air Canada. We are unable to process requests made within this timeframe.

Cancelling Upgrade Requests

Waitlisted upgrade requests may be cancelled at any time prior to flight departure.

Confirmed upgrades cannot be cancelled online. For assistance with a confirmed upgrade, please contact Air Canada Reservations or see an Air Canada airport agent. If you choose to cancel your upgrade and your originally purchased Economy or Premium Economy booking class is no longer available, you may need to pay an applicable fare difference.

Customers travelling on a Latitude Flight Pass may cancel their confirmed eUpgrade, subject to the Terms and Conditions of the Flight Pass.

Special Needs and Services

Customers whose travel includes provisions for certain special needs or services may not have access to some Business Class or Premium Economy cabins, and are, therefore, asked to contact Air Canada Reservations for information regarding possible upgrades.

Special needs or services with cabin restrictions include, but are not limited to:

Travel with an attendant: Passengers who are
self-reliant
Opens on the same page and are severely physically disabled (paraplegic or quadriplegic) so as to require an attendant to assist in getting in and out of a seat usually cannot be accommodated in the International Business Class cabin equipped with fully-lie flat beds. Exceptionally, on a case-by-case basis, authorization can be obtained from the Air Canada Medical Assistance Desk if, on fact-based evidence, it determines that the attendant accompanying the non-self-reliant passenger is physically capable of taking full responsibility for transferring the passenger in and out of the personal seating area.

Extra seating: It may not always be possible to accommodate passengers who require extra seating because they are disabled by obesity or because they must accommodate another disability in the Business Class or Premium Economy cabins.

Please note that passengers travelling with a service animal such as a seeing-eye dog may be seated in the International Business Class cabin provided the animal travels under the seat’s footstool and/or seat at all times.

Travel with a Medipak: Passengers with respiratory conditions who require a Medipak must be seated in the last row of the Business Class cabin. If such seating is not available, please see an Air Canada airport agent upon check-in.

Allergies: It may not always be possible to accommodate passengers with severe allergies in the Business Class or Premium Economy cabins. For example, your upgrade may be refused if:

You are severely allergic to cats and there is already a passenger seated in Business Class or Premium Economy who is travelling with a cat as part of their carry-on baggage. or

You are travelling with a cat as part of your carry-on baggage and there is already a passenger seated in Business Class or Premium Economy who is severely allergic to cats.

eUpgrade Requirements

Air Canada reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of eUpgrade Credits or the amount of the Add-on required for an upgrade to Business Class or Premium Economy, but will endeavour not to penalize customers in such circumstances, subject to certain system limitations.

Airports

Upgrade requests for flights departing from certain airports* must be completed at least 12 hours prior to departure using this online tool or by contacting Air Canada Reservations. They cannot be made at the airport or via Web Check-in.

* See "Airport Exceptions" in the "How to Request an Upgrade" section.

Meal Service

For airport standby upgrade requests on flights within North America, we will do our utmost, but cannot guarantee to be able to provide you with Business Class or Premium Economy meal service (where available).

Additional Rules

eUpgrade Credits are not redeemable for cash or other consideration and may not be bartered or sold

Customers requesting an eUpgrade must travel using their Air Canada frequent flyer number

Air Canada will consider void any eUpgrade Credits that have been bartered or sold. Air Canada reserves the right to terminate the Air Canada Altitude privileges of members who sell or barter their eUpgrade Credits, or who repeatedly fail to pay eUpgrade Add-ons

eUpgrade Credits are the property of Air Canada

Air Canada reserves the right to, without notice, (a) modify the terms and conditions related to eUpgrade Credit usage and eUpgrade Add-ons, (b) add, modify, or delete eligible booking classes, (c) cancel any upgrade request made in violation of the terms and conditions listed here, and (d) change upgrade priority rules. Upgrades are never guaranteed, and awarding of upgrades is subject to operational considerations which are at Air Canada’s sole discretion.

A list setting forth the priority of waitlisted same-day airport standby requests may be included in the Flight Status Section of the Air Canada App. A passenger’s same-day airport standby request will be displayed on the priority list using the first three letters of the passenger’s family name and the initial letter of the first name